knownasdoma, firstpassed by congress and signed by president clinton in 1996 is being challenged at the supreme court. >> it's being asked to decide there whether or not congress can pass a law that treats same-sex couples who are already married under the laws of their state different from opposite section sex couples. >> reporter: defenders of the law say congress has as much right as the states to make its own definition of marriage. >> doma is important because congress said it was important. i mean we sent our elected representatives to washington, d.c. and they chose to say that marriage is one man and one woman for purposes of federal law. >> reporter: conservatives say the founding fathers never contemplated gay marriage. >> because it's clearly not what anyone understood as marriage at the time of the framing of the constitution. >> reporter: still, same-sex families pay taxes and don't get the same benefits and the issue with doma really gets complicated if they have children who are also excluded from benefits. >> when we have kids i would like them to be born in a pos

of marriage act -ordoma-that legally defines marriage as between a man and woman. conservative leader rand paul says he believes in traditional marriage, but not doma. >> "i don't want the government promoting something i don't believe in, but i also don't mind if the government tries to be neutral on the issue." >> reporter: although recent polls show a majority of americans support of same sex marriage, california's attorney general says it's more important to read the constitution. >> "i am absolutely against a ban on same-sex marriages because because they are simply unconstitutional." >> reporter: i'm cristina mutchler reporting for kron 4 news. >> a view from the golden gate. with rainfall, coming up. . [ female announcer ] safeway presents real big deals of the week. or how to get great prices on things you need for easter. we know you look around for the best deals, that's why we give you real big club card deals each week. right now a juicy smoked shank half ham is just 99 cents a pound. let's bake. safeway sugar is $1.97 for four pounds. and chobani greek yogurt is just a buck. r

-ordoma-that legally defines marriage as between a man and woman. conservative leader rand paul says he believes in traditional marriage, but not doma. >> "i don't want the government promoting something i don't believe in, but i also don't mind if the government tries to be neutral on the issue." >> reporter: although recent polls show a majority of americans support of same sex marriage, california's attorney general says it's more important to read the constitution. >> "i am absolutely against a ban on same-sex marriages because because they are simply unconstitutional." i'm cristina mutchler reporting for kron 4 news. >> secretary of state john kerry says he's made it clear to iraq that it shouldn't allow iran to use its airspace to ship weapons and fighters to syria. u-s officials believe shipments on iranian overflights are transporting weapons and fighters to the embattled syrian government. kerry says iraq's behavior in allowing use of the airspace raises questions about the country's reliability as a partner. >> a mall in los angeles is open again after more than a thousand wor

of it. tea party conservative ron paul explained why he isagainstd.o.m.a. thedefense of marriage act. >> it's a very complicated issue. i've always said the state has the right to decide. and i don't think the federal government should tell anybody how they should decide this. >> reporter: the supreme court will hear arguments about d.o.m.a. on wednesday. supreme court ruling are expected in june. >>> more details now on what the decision on prop eight could mean for california and the rest of the country. among the scenarios if the court strikes down prop-8 as a violation of constitutional rightings, same-sex marriage would become -- constitutional rights, same-sex marriage would become law. or they could decide states will decide. while those results are not clear cut, some legal experts think the lower court rulings would stand allowing same-sex couples to marry in california. >>> david stevenson will have live reports throughout the day. we will go in-depth on the case and gauge reaction from washington, d.c. to the bay area. >>> bay area postal workers fight to keep saturday d

this the best environment. >> reporter: the other case presents a challengetodoma, thedefense of marriage act passed by congress 17 years ago. it blocks federal recognition of same-sex couples in states where they are allowed to marry, denying them about one thousand federal benefits that other married couples get. it's being challenged by 83-year-old edie windsor of new york when her spouse died and left her the estate, she got a tax bill for $363,000. >> if the federal government had recognized the marriage, it would have been zero. zero. >> reporter: after first supporting doma, president obama now says it's unconstitutional. >> basic principle that america is founded on. the idea that we're all created equal. applies to everybody. regardless of sexual orientation. >> reporter: house republicans are now defending doma in court. >> the administration doesn't get to decide what is constitutional. the supreme court does. and our phillipsing of the lawsuit was to make sure that the proper forum was used to make sure that we know what is constitutional and what isn't. >> that was nbc's pete wil